Tag: Roms

The upcoming Hungarian EU Presidency will give the plight of the bloc's Roma minority the attention it deserves by mobilising resources in the 'Europe 2020' strategy, Hungary's Ambassador to the EU Péter Györkös said on 26 November.

Officials are considering removing visa-free travel for Western Balkan citizens as growing numbers of asylum-seekers from these countries hit the borders of Sweden, Belgium and Germany.

The European Parliament yesterday (7 October) backed visa-free travel to Europe's Schengen area for Albanian and Bosnian citizens, setting the EU assembly on a collision course with France, which opposes the proposal following its controversial crackdown on illegal Roma camps.

The European Commission has decided to take France to task regarding its summer crackdown on illegal Roma camps, giving Paris until 15 October to prove that its policies comply with EU laws guaranteeing the free circulation of people.

The European Commission yesterday (27 September) described as "unacceptable" a statement by Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who said that the Roma community was an "incubator" for crime. Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, reports.

Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, who was caught in a bitter row with Paris last week over the French government's Roma expulsions, said the European Commission will start a legal procedure against France and several other EU countries for failing to transpose into national law a 2004 directive on the free movement of persons.

Viviane Reding, vice-president of the European Commission responsible for justice and fundamental rights, announced today (14 September) that she will launch a legal procedure against France for discriminating against the Roma. The way Paris has managed the issue is "a disgrace," said Reding in a rare loss of temper.

European Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht apologised on 3 September for comments he made about Jews in a recent interview. The European Commission distanced itself from the offensive statements, but that did not stop commentators and Jewish organisations from talking of a "new wave" of anti-Semitism and racism across Europe.

Romania should not interpret freedom of movement in the EU as a right to get rid of its Roma at the expense of other countries, Pierre Lellouche, the French state secretary for European affairs, told the press yesterday (31 August) in Brussels, triggering a strong reaction from Bucharest.

Although the next French presidential elections are not until 2012 and French President Nicolas Sarkozy is yet to announce his intention to run for re-election, analysts argue that the forced repatriation of Roma to Bulgaria and Romania has in fact kick-started the election campaign.

The European Commission has been remarkably silent over the treatment of Roma by France and Italy, Dominique Moïsi, founder and senior advisor at Ifri (the French Institute for International Relations), told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

The European Commission is following very closely France's dealings with its Roma, who the authorities are planning to expel in groups, Commission representatives said yesterday (18 August), after being asked by the Brussels press whether the expulsions were in line with EU legislation.